church service I'm so happy that you're
here and I believe that the Lord will
bless you today and fill you up
spiritually with the faith that you need
to do the things that he has called you
to do in life praise God before we jump
into the message today
let's first honor the Lord and worship
the Lord by bringing the holy tithes and
offerings into the storehouse listen to
this amazing verse out of 1st
Thessalonians chapter 4 I would like to
start in verse 9 the Apostle Paul said
but concerning brotherly love you have
no need that I should write to you for
you yourselves are taught by God to love
one another and indeed you do so toward
all the brethren who are in all
Macedonia but we urge you brethren that
you increase more and more verse 11 that
you also inspire to lead a quiet life to
mind your own business and to work with
your own hands as we command it you now
listen to verse 12 that you may walk
properly toward those who are outside
and that you may lack nothing
we've gone over many verses over the
years proving from the Word of God and
remember God's Word is his revealed will
we have proved from the Word of God that
God doesn't want you to lack he wants
you to be in a place where your needs
are met and here he gives a very viable
reason for why that should be that you
may walk properly toward those toward
those who are outside ok those who are
outside would be the unbelievers those
that are outside of the church and those
who are outside of Christ they don't
know anything about Christianity except
from maybe what they see on TV or what
they hear but as far as knowing the Lord
personally they're not saved and it is a
very is a very undermining witness of
the Christian faith when somebody says I
love the Lord and you need to be saved
but they see you not pay your bills on
time or they see you not pay your
mortgage or they see you not make your
car payment on time and this goes on
consistently not just maybe late
payments but
justno payments and you just say well
I'm sorry I love the Lord but I don't
have the money and they just think wow
what kind of a what kind of a faith is
this so and of course an outsider would
look at that and they would think you
know I don't think I want anything to do
with that I don't want to be in a
situation like that so this is an
amazing verse that you may walk properly
toward those who are outside and that
you may like nothing God wants you to
begin a place where you never have lack
why so you can be a good Christian
witness whoa glory to God
watch this so that all of your bills are
paid on time look that'll preach right
there you may never share a verse with
them you may never share a sermon with
them that they may they may know that
you're a Christian but they may not know
the ABCs of the faith or anything like
that but when they see your works not
the things you say so much but when they
see your works they see you pay your
bills on time they see that you know
what you're you have ethics and your
finances they're like wow I you know you
know I I like that and that is an
amazing witness of the nature and the
character of God and we need to express
that because if we're always late with
their money or we're not making payments
or just sometimes have you ever had a
Christian never pay you back maybe
they've they wanted a loan or maybe they
you know you paid them for a job and
they just never did it or never showed
I've had that happen to me I've paid
some you know quote quote Christian
businessmen to do some work and they
never they never finished the work and
then when I would call them and say hey
are you gonna come and finish that job
they would even answer the phone won't
return the calls and things like that so
you know those were small small jobs so
I just wrote it off as forgiveness but
for them when you sew like that when
when they're sewing things like that
it's a very it's a very poor witness
because they if they would do that to a
church they would they would certainly
do it to an to an unbeliever or somebody
that maybe they think they can just get
away with it so we really need to honor
the Lord in this area believe that we
are always in a place of no lack because
it allow
us to be the Christian witness that God
wants us to be and so you need the
abundance as well so that should you see
a brother or sister in the Lord then you
can who would be in a place of need you
can jump in there help them meet that
need so that preserves their witness as
well I remember one time that when we
were traveling full-time in the
motorhome you know going around the
country preaching the gospel we are in
Tennessee and the motorhome broke down
well I was supposed to be at a meeting
in Dallas Texas with this within just a
couple of days but what the motorhome
broke down I just thought why like I
wonder how I'm gonna be able to make it
well a technician diagnose the problem
found out that it was the fuel pump that
had gone out and the cost to have it
repaired and replaced well you get a
brand new and put in was fifteen hundred
dollars and we did not have fifteen
hundred dollars to to do that but I was
talking on the phone with my dear friend
dr. Wade Taylor and he said Steven
what's going on right now I said well
I'm in a I'm in a little bit of a tricky
spot I'm in Tennessee the motorhome
broke down and I've got to get to a
meeting in Dallas and he said how much
does it cost to fix it
I said fifteen hundred dollars he goes
oh I just he said I just happen to have
an extra $1,500 he said normally I
wouldn't I wouldn't have that like money
like that just sitting around he said
I'll just he said I'll put it in the
mail and get it right to you I said
wonderful I said thank you and that was
a real blessing how could he do that
because he was at a place where God had
blessed him with the overflow and he
could just reach into my life and help
preserve my testimony for the Lord which
is make the payment on that item that
need to be purchased and repaired and
then get over to the meeting and show up
on time and get to the meeting oh praise
the Lord hallelujah well my friends it
is a real blessing to walk in continual
abundance and that's God's will for your
life because without that your Christian
witness will not have the effectiveness
that God wants you to have by being a
person that's very straight up and
ethical with your finances whoo praise
the Lord this is very very important
okay let me also answer a question today
I get a lot of questions that come to me
through email not not so much in letters
but mainly through email people asked me
all kinds of questions about tithing and
even offering so today's question is
this the person said pastor Stephen
should I tithe on my social security
check
I am on a fixed income okay so let's
take a look at a verse this would be
from the book of Malachi chapter 3 verse
10 it says bring all the tithes into the
storehouse okay so think of it like this
tithing is on the gross of all income
and that also includes fixed income this
is what you need to realize when you're
looking at the tithe and some people
some of God's people have a wrong
mindset but you need to remember that
when it comes to tithing God is trying
to get prosperity to you he's not trying
to take money away from you and
sometimes believers think well God's
just trying to take my money and really
you have a you have a wrong concept
about the Lord the Lord is good and all
of his intentions towards you are good
every single one of them so when the
Lord says I have a financial system
where you can come into a covenant
relationship with me now I'm talking I'm
not talking about a covenant of
salvation but God presents a covenant of
finances where you can come in to him
come to come to him and engage with him
on the platform of a financial covenant
and you come on that platform through
tithing and operating the laws of seed
time and harvest but you you step on
that platform with tithing whoa
hallelujah so God's not trying to take
take provision away from you he's trying
to get provision to you and I know what
some Christians think they think pastor
Stephen I can't tithe because if I tithe
I won't have enough money left to pay my
bills okay so stop and think about this
just for a moment if
if all you're doing is surviving where
things are so tight and so close that if
10% of your income were gone you crash
and burn or hit the wall and your whole
world falls apart what's what's wrong
with that picture you shouldn't be
skimming through life with your nose
barely above that doesn't sound like
thriving that to me sounds like you're
surviving you should be able to give God
10% up front
remember the tithe is God's it belongs
to him if you're taking the tie then
you're using it to pay bills and things
like that you're taking you're taking
something that belongs to God and you're
misallocating it and that's why you're
struggling that's why you are in
survival mode and so I hear sometimes
people say I can't tie it pastor Steve
and I I don't have enough money that's
why you don't have enough money that's
why you're living a life of meager
existence barely getting by praise the
Lord hallelujah glory to God you start
tithing you start tithing God God can
take you to a place where you know 60 70
% of the money's coming in to you you
don't even need it
it's all overflow what if 90% coming in
was all overflow woo glory to God that's
happened to people before and I can I
believe it can happen to you now here's
the thing I was praying about this
before doing the service today and I
really sensed that there are there are
many that are watching that God wants to
make you millionaires multimillionaires
and you have to understand if you will
not tithe on $200 there's no way you're
gonna tie it on two hundred thousand
dollars even if you think you would once
you get quote breathing room well Lord
once I get a little breathing room that
I'll start tithing that is a deception
because if you're not faithful in the
little you're not going to be faithful
in larger amounts that is a
contradiction of ethics and principles
it doesn't work like that so the thing
that if you had a five million dollar
inheritance come in that somehow you're
going to go out now and tithe on that
when you're not even tithing on five
hundred dollars it's just not going to
happen
but let me say this you'll never see the
five million you'll never see these big
blessings of a million or two million or
much more you'll never see this
provision pour into your life unless you
make a commitment and a practice of
tithing now glory to the Lord because of
your tithe on ten thousand you would
tithe on ten million
oh yes praise the Lord hallelujah thank
you Lord Jesus glory to God
and I want you to think also that these
are not rare things happening don't
though don't think that maybe just
because of what the News says
everybody's out there struggling that is
not the case just get in your car drive
around in the city look at all these
massive car dealerships and all of these
cars and look at all these malls and
look at all of this money there's a lot
of wealth in the world not everybody's
struggling not everybody's struggling
and so you need to see yourself in a
place of never lacking you need to see
yourself in a place of prosperity and
you need to see yourself in a place of
tremendous revenue and influx of funds
coming into your life and you dispensing
large tithes into the storehouse from
which you are spiritually nourished and
fed praise God lock into a financial
covenant with God through the tithe
tithe on everything that comes in
hallelujah Social Security fixed income
any anything anytime
money's coming into your life tithe on
it and tithe first give God the tithe
first and then after that God will give
you wisdom and blessing and favor to
allocate other bills that need to be
paid and even even give wisdom in the
area of savings and investing and
everything like that but pay God's tide
first put God first place in your life
praise the Lord thank you Lord Jesus
Heavenly Father I pray for those that
are watching today that as they bring
the tithe and those times when we have
special special projects when they sow
special offerings Lord as they honor you
with ties and offerings I thank you
Father God that you're opening the
windows of heaven over their lives
you're pouring out the most amazing
blessings whoa father we thank you for
drinking your people with blessings with
wisdom and understanding and incredible
provision father we thank you we give
you all of
praise we say no lack father no lack
so that will always have a viable strong
Christian witness but no bounced checks
mm-hmm a bounced check is a terrible
Christian witness father we thank you
that these things are being dried up
never ever to happen again in the lives
of your people we thank you for a
sterling Christian witness and strong
finances where all of our needs are met
we're blessed and were able to reach
into the lives of others and extend
blessing as well father we give you all
the praise in the name of Jesus shout
today amen whoo I see a Munden abundant
abundant overflow sweeping into your
life glory to God glory to God
forevermore
now those of you that that would prefer
to mail in your tithes and offerings
please send them to Steven Brooks
International p.o box seven one seven
Moravian Falls
North Carolina our zip code two eight
six five four if you would like to bring
the tithes and offerings in online you
can do so it's safe and secure is highly
encrypted you can visit the ministry
website Steven Brooks org there's a link
on the homepage called Titans and
offerings so and reap you can go there
any time and bring the tides in also if
you would like to sew a special offering
we do have two projects going on right
now we have the hanger project for the
future ministry aircraft and we also
have the fence project in which we're
endeavoring to put a fence around the
entire ministry property both of those
projects are taking place right now I
would encourage you to sew into them and
thank you because it is a great blessing
to the ministry glory to God now let's
jump into today's message
let us begin in the Gospel of Matthew
chapter 24 Matthew chapter 24 and please
meet me in verse 21 follow along quickly
because time will fly by Heavenly Father
as we go into your word we ask that your
Holy Spirit would quicken it make it
alive make it living make it like food
and we thank you that it is our
spiritual food thank you Father that our
faith be strengthened let us do great
exploits in the name of Jesus that you
might receive all the glory and the
honor in Jesus name we pray we agree and
say Amen
today we're talking about redeeming the
time Matthew 24 verse 21 for then there
will be Great Tribulation such as has
not been since the beginning of the
world until this time no nor ever shall
be and unless those days were shortened
no flesh would be saved but for the
elects sake those days will be shortened
praise the Lord we still have 24 hours
in a day but my goodness don't they just
fly by doesn't a month just fly by and a
year just seems to zoom by this year is
already drawing towards the end of the
year time moves very very quickly and as
we get closer and closer to the end of
time there's a sense of time being sped
up but we'll also be in that place where
we're gonna see the unfolding of the
last days and they're gonna be the most
amazing times that we have ever lived in
we need to be ready to meet the Lord at
any time we need to be ready every day
to preach the gospel and do all that we
can with the short remaining time that
we have left praise the Lord because it
says unless those days were shortened no
flesh would be saved these are wicked
cruel and evil days and righteousness is
rising in the people of God within the
Holy Church but sin and lawlessness and
evil and wickedness is rising in the
world amongst the unsaved and these two
are going to continue to increase until
the final culmination of time praise the
Lord my friends we need to have our days
structured we need to have our time
wisely spent and wisely used because
time is very very quickly running out
whoo it's a it's a very costly commodity
that once is spent you can't get it back
praise the Lord
so we need to be really really living
for the Lord let's go to the book of
Revelation chapter 22 revelation 22
verse 11 it says he who was unjust let
him be unjust still he who is filthy
that him be filthy still he who was
righteous let him be righteous still he
who is holy let him be holy still the
end of the ages is upon us many will
come to the Lord many will be saved but
there will be others who are wicked who
are unholy who were unjust literally who
are filthy and they want to stay like
that and they don't want to change and
you know what the Lord says well if they
want to stay like that they can but as
for us we are going to go on and we're
going to continue to walk in
righteousness knowing that our day and
the Lord is getting brighter and
brighter and we have a glorious future
in heaven thank you Lord Jesus so things
are winding down in the earth we need to
face reality while many will be saved
some areas are so entrenched in darkness
they have no desire to change and we
need to sometimes realize that that
there are certain regions I would even
say sadly certain nations that they are
going to resist and resist when I speak
of nations I'm speaking particularly of
the leaders they just don't want the
gospel they don't want to be a sheep
nation they want to be a goat nation and
they want to continue in their idolatry
and in their wicked and corrupt ways
well when the 1000 year reign comes when
Jesus rules and reigns on the earth it
says that he will rule with the rod of
iron and they will submit to him they
will feign submission in other words
they'll act like okay we'll do it right
now now that you're ruling with a rod Oh
iron will straighten up but it doesn't
necessarily mean that they give their
heart to the Lord but they they better
behave I believe that when the Lord
rules and reigns some of the things that
you only get little glimpses of today
will become standard practice when that
when Jesus is on the throne you know
when you go to Singapore not as a you
know Singaporean resident but when you
travel from another nation such as
America like myself going to Singapore
when you go to Singapore and they stamp
your passport upon your entrance into
their country you you find out that they
have some interesting rules that you
have to follow there's there is no
chewing gum and if you you know you chew
gum and you spit that gum on the on the
ground you can get you can get heavy
heavy punishment for that I thought it
was hilarious one time and I was with
some Minister friends and we were
together at a large conference in Israel
and there was a lot of people at the
conference from Singapore and all the
kids all the young children were chewing
gum and they were just buying gum and it
seemed like almost every time we see a
convenience store or something like that
there but they're buying more chewing
gum and my wife asked him what you know
what's the big deal with the gum I mean
we've got we got chewing gum all around
those in America they're like well we
can't chew it and see you're poor
because of the laws it's out of the
country they're having fun chewing their
gum but also in Singapore when they
stamp your passport they put a piece of
paper in your passport and you long as
you're visiting their country you are
not allowed to take that piece of paper
out of your passport and that piece of
paper is a notice that says if you are
caught trafficking drugs you are given
the death penalty no no you're not given
like 20 years in prison or 50 years in
prison you're getting your you're
getting put to death you're getting that
you're getting the death penalty and
that's for anybody trafficking in drugs
would you believe with the death penalty
looming over anybody that they catch and
that they look for them to would you
believe what with that hanging over the
country there are still those that still
try
drugs knowing that they get caught their
life is finished but that's just a
little glimpse of what it will be like
when the when the Lord Jesus will rule
with a rod of iron and he and when he
will say no smoking hey isn't that going
to be nice when all of this garbage
tobacco and look I'm from North Carolina
and our state is probably the leading
exporter of tobacco in the world I know
our neighbor Virginia up above us in the
north they they export a lot of tobacco
also but I think we still have a beat as
far as the volume of tobacco going out
actually one time we were in Israel and
we were in an area where there was just
so much smoke and so many Israelis were
smoking and so many Arabs were smoking
and Kelly said she said oh there's just
she said well there's a lot of smoke
around here and the tour guide knowing
where me and Kelly were from he said
well Kelly he said you guys are the one
that you guys are the ones that sent it
here over here to is the first place he
said it's all coming from North Carolina
see even the Israelis in the Arabs know
where it's coming from Oh hallelujah may
mean North Carolina be the state that
continues to export the gospel despite
the beloved death of our great statesman
Billy Graham made North Carolina still
be a leader in the exporting of the
gospel not tobacco but when Jesus comes
to rule and reign well you know that's
gonna be chop suey
that's gonna be over and watch watch
what's going to happen with all the
liquor laws and stuff like that a lot of
change is coming when the Lord Jesus
rules from his throne in Jerusalem you
can read about that in the book of
Zechariah the closing chapters now
revelation 22 verse 11 again he who is
unjust let him be unjust still see time
is running out if you want to stay like
that you can be like that what's going
on time's running out
some aren't going to change many will
but there's gonna be others who aren't
some people bless their hearts they're
thinking that Hollywood is somehow
become holy wood it's not it's not
I've got pastor friends evangelist
friends that used to be actors in
Hollywood and they realized you you
cannot be in that industry unless you
just want to you know the if you want
the roles you're gonna have to sin
there's a couple of particular sins that
you'll have to do if you want to be the
lead actor in big in big stuff I'm not
talking about Christian movies okay
because those those are like little
bitty bleeps on the radar but if you
want the big movies and the big shows
and stuff like that there's a lot of
bowing down that goes on in the back
rooms there's a there's major compromise
in areas of sin and so a lot of
Christians are like Hollywood is gonna
become holy wood no it's not because the
ruling evil spirit which is actually a
fallen angel see not all the fallen
angels are chained some of them still
have they still have dominions within
these spiritual realms of darkness but
the angel the the Dark Angel the wicked
angel that's over Hollywood is very very
powerful this is a wicked spirit in high
places and so he's not going anywhere
and become because all of the filth
that's produced out of that is a major
major demonic strongholds are not going
to collapse and fall until Satan is
pulled down out of the heavenlies by
Michael the Archangel and then he has to
fight on the ground just like everybody
else does but until that time comes
there in those positions of strongholds
praise the Lord and it's good to
understand that and there's people that
are under the influence of these evil
spirits they're not going to change
they're gonna keep making vile filthy
dirty movies movies of course with which
really no Christians should be watching
and there's a lot of believers that will
just go out and watch anything they'll
let anything in their i gate there let
anything into their ears and you know
there's very very dangerous to do that
these are the last days and you're
sitting in environments like that you're
really letting large amounts of
spiritual defilement come up on you oh
it's very very dirty praise God so you
know what these are things that we have
to
understand there are some that it want
to stay filthy and you know what they
want to they can it's not God's will for
them to stay like that but they can he
who was righteous let him be righteous
still he who is holy let him be holy
still
praise God let's continue on let's go to
Ephesians chapter 5 and let's drop down
the verse 14 praise the Lord
these officials 5 verse 14 therefore he
says awake you who sleep arise from the
dead and Christ will give you light see
then that you walk uprightly not as
fool's but as wise redeeming the time
making the most of it
using it for all that you can getting
every bit of the value out of it that
you have redeeming the time because the
days are evil and they're not going to
get better they're going to get more
evil now I'm not saying that we don't
need to pray and believe God for a move
of the Spirit and spiritual awakening
and revival and all of those things I
believe that's all in the mix but we
need to also understand that the devil
is not going away just yet until that
time comes so he's going to stay busy
he's gonna stay doing this stuff and the
things that are out there now that are
bad are going to continue to degradation
get worse there is a degrading that's
going on and if you look at our American
culture look at world culture the way
people dressed in the 1850s and the
early 1900s and the way clothing is
today it's just clothing is coming off
left and right you know and it's just
there there's no modesty anymore
there's no modesty in language anymore
you could walk through an airport I know
if I walked the Charlotte Airport just
walking from the the entrance to my
terminal and and the gate that I would
go to I'll probably hear 40 profane
words out loud I mean you know not just
like some of the simple curse words that
people use but just every foul and
people are just walking talking out loud
like it's normal
what's going on the days are evil and
that's going to continue wicked people
evil people that don't know the Lord
praise God so this is what we need to do
see then that you walk uprightly not as
fool's but as wise redeeming the time
because the days of the days are evil
therefore do not be unwise but
understand what the will of the Lord is
so we want to redeem the time that we
have when we redeem the time we begin to
understand the Lord's will we begin to
understand the end time prophetic time
clock we begin to understand the
deception that's out there that a lot of
Christians even there in the fog not not
knowing what's going on not knowing what
the enemy is doing not knowing his plots
and its plans within the earth or the
plots against the church but when you
really use your time right and you begin
the structure and order your day the
plan of God the will of God begins to
get unveiled to you whoa thank you Lord
Jesus and you stay dialed in with what
God is doing now let's go over to first
Thessalonians chapter five I really like
this verse first Thessalonians chapter
five verse one but concerning the times
and the seasons brethren you have no
need that I should write to you for you
yourselves know perfectly that the day
of the Lord so comes as a thief in the
night
whoo for when they say peace and safety
which which they're saying right now in
many ways you know it's not like we're
have a war war going on right now but
when they say peace and safety then
sudden destruction comes upon them as
labor pains upon a pregnant woman and
they shall not escape but you brethren
are not in darkness so that this day
should overtake you as a thief you are
all sons of light and sons of the day we
are not of the night nor of darkness
verse 6 is what I want to talk about
therefore let us not sleep as others do
but let us watch and be sober okay the
word watch is a reference to prayer and
it says let us be sober to be sober
means to be on alert so the watch
referred to a prayer watch a Night Watch
why because if the thief is going to
come often he comes at
but here we have a reference of the Lord
coming as a thief in the night whoo
praise God so that's a reference in a
good way that you just don't know what
he's going to come I believe that it's
good to study what the theologians were
called in time eschatology the unfolding
of the endtime events and you know
there's there's various views pre-trib
mid-trib post-trib and as one theologian
called it pant rib which is you know
just all it'll just pan out however God
wants to the pan out well I'm not
Pantera because I believe we do have
some good insight in Scripture of what
the end time plan will be but I believe
that I believe that regardless we need
to be walking with the Lord very very
closely because we were in the last days
the end of time the end of time you know
it was about about 15 years ago here at
Moravian Falls where you know I just
noticed being Kelly noticed that a lot
of people were really up on the theology
of you know we're going to go we're all
going to go through the Great
Tribulation and a lot of people were you
know they were just there ready to
tribulation up there money and buying
guns they're buying beans and rice and
all kinds of food that you can put in
storage bins and they were getting all
these greenhouses ready and and all of
this stuff and trying to do all these I
call it like goofy stuff
and they're putting all their trust and
their ability to you know they get ready
to tribulation oh I was talking to a an
elderly man one day and he said he said
Steve and I I see all of these Preppers
trying to prep for the tribulation that
they think they're going to go through
and he goes he goes I don't know about
you but when I read the book of
Revelation and I see those judgments and
those rats that are poured out by God
there's he said there's no way in the
world I want to go through that I said
thank you for your honesty okay so that
those are things we need to understand
as we are on the end time prophetic
clock
says in verse nine for God did not
appoint us to wrath but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ
so however the endtime events will
unfold you need to understand that
you're not appointed for wrath God's not
going to pour wrath on you the wrath is
for all the wicked and all the filthy
people that want to be filthy and
actually celebrate sin not only do it
but celebrate it and want to corrupt
those who don't do it so those are the
ones that the wrath is going to get
dumped on whoo and all of those that
hate Israel they're all going to get
blasted with the wrath of God yes I'm
every pro-israel because God is very
pro-israel praise the Lord hallelujah
yes you can quote me on that
put me on a list or whatever you want to
do if you're you know somebody watching
that's you know whether we're gonna you
know make sure he's marked for the end
times we're gonna get him well go ahead
and put me on the list cuz i 100% stand
with israel praise the Lord
glory to God but I do know that this
that the wrath is coming for the wicked
and for the unbelievers it's not coming
for the people of God so you don't need
to like make preparations for somehow
trying to like you know like you're
gonna be Rambo you know going through
the endtime rap you know the endtime
tribulation with like a machine gun you
know guarding your rice and beans mowing
people down no a lot of those people
that were doing all that stuff most of
those people have left they've moved
their greenhouses never you know they're
all abandoned and stuff like that and it
just it just didn't work out
so you know you just need to pray and
you need to walk with the Lord because
if you are left behind by the Lord for a
specific purpose to do a specific
assignment there there would be divine
coverage and divine protection and it
would have to be supernatural because
all you have to do is read the wrath of
God in Revelation that's going to be
poured out and I mean we're talking
about you know like massive meteorites
crash it into the ocean and massive
tidal waves and millions and millions
about billions actually if people dined
on B this is stuff that's off the charts
unlike anything the world is there
seen before so no you don't even want to
be around for that in the very horrors
of it or beyond imagination so you know
just walk with the Lord and when it's
time for us to go home to be with the
Lord we'll all be ready to go praise God
but the thing is is that you need to you
need to adjust the way that you look at
time and the way that you're treating
your time particularly according to
verse 6 therefore let us not sleep as
others do but let us watch and be sober
I want to challenge you to not have any
more wasted days pastor Stephen what do
you mean by wasted days those days you
wake up and your rhythm is off and you
never quite get synched to do the things
that you're supposed to do and by the
time the Sun is going down you just felt
like you know what I don't feel like I
accomplished anything today well maybe
it's because you didn't why because
verse 6 therefore let us not sleep as
others do but let us watch and be sober
but it it it flows around the way you
sleep praise the Lord
now well normally they say that the
human body needs at least 7 hours of
sleep at night they say the the sweet
spot is somewhere between 7 and 9 hours
ok but I think there's something when
you begin to seek the Lord and tie into
the Lord in the early morning hours I
believe there is a grace that comes upon
your life where I'm not saying you won't
experience some fatigue but there is
something that flows from the Lord that
sustains you that if you will get up
early and seek God in prayer in other
words verse 6 therefore let us not sleep
as others do if you will change your
sleep in order to watch and be sober to
pray and understand the endtime events
if you will do that God will restore
your strength God will very super
naturally restore energy into even your
physical
body and it has to be it has to be done
in order to experience it because
there's a part of this I can't even
explain it
all I can say is that when you do it
there's grace that comes and you think
well you know I shouldn't be tired I
didn't get a lot of sleep because I
spent some extra hours in prayer but I
just somehow keep on going why is this
it's a mystery
see the Bible tells us not to look into
the mystery of lawlessness don't try to
figure out maybe why some things are the
way they are in there in relation to sin
because we don't want to be always
looking at sin now we need to be aware
of things but you don't want to be
looking into that because it's just
garbage and junk okay
so we're told not to look into the
mystery of lawlessness but we are told
to ponder and meditate upon the mystery
of godliness Wow
hallelujah so there is a strength a
godliness a flow that comes from the
Lord that when you seek the Lord he
gives you grace and strength to keep on
going and when you need to sleep he'll
give it to you it might be in the back
of a boat like Jesus who would just grab
that sleep sometimes whenever he could
get it and why would it be so tired why
why would he fall into such a deep sleep
even though there's a storm going on
because he wouldn't be getting up early
on a regular basis to pray and spend
extra time with the Lord and trust me if
the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the
experts of the Mosaic law were ready to
meet you it's seven o'clock in the
morning when you came out and when if
they were ready to meet you with their
most brilliant minds as lawyers trained
in the Torah if they're ready to meet
you and tried to snare you in your words
and try to get you to say or make a
mistake knowing that they're waiting for
you you just wouldn't want to walk into
a day casually like that but see every
day was like that for the Lord every day
the enemy had snares and plots and all
kinds of kooky stuff plotted for him
every day but the Lord overcame every
single day and it begins
with the way that you sleep therefore
let us not sleep as others do who let us
watch that refers to the night watches
of Prayer let us watch and be sober you
can't be sober if you're not getting
that prayer time in you're not going to
know what's going on and when when when
things happen people are caught off
guard even in the church and they're
like I can't believe that happened
well you if you'd had your antennas up
you could have sensed something's going
to happen today
or something's coming the Holy Spirit
will share these amazing revelations
with you he'll help you order your day
and you'll never have another wasted day
in your life I believe because the days
are evil
and the darkness is becoming gross
darkness and it is gross isn't it this
just flat-out it's just flat-out lunacy
it's I would even call it insanity some
of the things that are out there that
are being celebrated as good they're
actually it's actually insanity that's
how crazy it is so my friends these are
the days that are that we're in them
they're not just coming they're here
these are the days that are evil and
every day that we go into we need
understand time is running out we've got
to make every day count and you're not
going to be able to do that unless
you're really walking clothes for the
Lord I would suggest to you to
peripherally consider altering even the
way that you sleep therefore let us not
sleep as others do whoo
praise the Lord well now pastor Stephen
the you know that the sleep specialists
and doctors who studies sleep say that
we need 9 hours a day well where's that
at in the Bible I don't see that in the
Bible no we do need to have sleep that's
a mechanism that's you know one of the
things that makes us tick and you do
need to have food because you know you
need the food to live but at the same
time you don't need as much food as you
think you need well pastor Stephen
that's easy for you to say because
you're skinny well you know I could I
could wait
300 pounds if I wanted to I could wait
you know 280 if I wanted to but you know
I just I just choose to push the pipe
back if I'm getting full that's all
that's all that is praise the Lord it's
not because of genetics or it's not
because of something like that
hallelujah Lord we give you praise I
just know that this is beginning to soak
into your spirit and so I'm taking my
time here slowing down here on purpose
you can change the way that you sleep
you may have been told that you need 9
hours and maybe your mind says oh I'm
still tired but I have found that if you
get up you may feel tired but once you
get going you're like hey I'm feeling ok
and it's the most amazing realization to
realize while I'm up and I'm praying and
I didn't think I could do this but yet
here I am and I'm doing ok and if I had
a lay there in bed I would have lost I
would have lost all of this I would have
lost the the anointing that I'm
receiving I would have lost the strength
the relationship I would have lost this
amazing time that I'm having with the
Lord if I would have just laid there and
would have slept the way everybody else
sleeps praise God hallelujah now of
course when you step into this it's very
important what you do the night before
because if you stay up to one o'clock in
the morning watching mindless television
programs that grace that you're needing
it's not going to be there you have to
be a disciplined person I'm not saying
that you know you have to like wear you
know alarm clocks on your head or
something like that but you do have to
think I need to get up early to pray so
you're going to structure your time in
the evening so you're not you're not
wasting your time because you're going
to need the strength as much as you can
to get up praise the Lord now I really
do believe I'm actually I'm actually
actually convinced of it that God does
send his angels to help us get up and
pray I'm going to I'm gonna give a perch
allenge here in just a little bit for
you to meet me in prayer in the morning
at 3:30 3:00 in the morning why is that
Pastor Steven because 333 is the hour
the holy
spirit told me 333 in the morning is the
hour of divine secrets whoo hallelujah
see it's time to say goodbye to the
stupor people that are not sober are in
a stupor they're just they're out of it
and they're being they're being
overwhelmed by the wave of the coat of
the cultural corruption that is
happening in the in this nation today
and they're they're even beginning some
christians or even beginning to change
their theology and starting to think
well maybe it is okay what's going on
they're getting caught up in the stupor
but when you walk with the lord you stay
sober you stay so sharp and you're like
now hold on a minute the Bible says
that's wrong the Bible says that's a sin
the Bible says that's perversion and
that's evil I believe the Bible the
Bible hasn't changed glory to God but
the Holy Spirit will meet you glory to
God 3:33 in the morning is the hour of
the revealing of divine secrets thank
you Lord Jesus you know it's the most
amazing thing is that if you stay up
late at night doing silly stuff like
watching television or watching watching
sports glory to God whoo I heard a loud
pop some word I don't know what it was I
believe it was like an angelic clap or
something that was an amazing experience
glory to God but I I believe that God
will send the angels to get you up this
is what's so amazing there have been
times I've stayed up till midnight
praying and then I would think I need to
still get up early in the morning to
meet the Lord at 3:30 3:00 in the
morning do you know that because I
stayed up late doing something that was
Kingdom oriented that when it came time
to get up to pray in the morning that
the grace was still there and I'm
thinking I've only had like three and a
half hours of sleep I should be wore out
why am i able to do this because because
of the grace of God now let me go back
to the Angels because something's going
on even here right now in the studio
with the Angels if you will make a
commitment to get up they'll help you
they will help you to a point now still
your alarm but the angels will help you
because sometimes you can just turn the
alarm off but oftentimes the angels will
still help you they may shake you I've
actually have had them grab my hand and
pull me up
they don't do that all the time that's
only happened maybe three times but I've
had them wake me up in other ways many
many times often I would say the number
one way loud noises something that you
think is a natural disruption maybe a
motorcycle like a harley-davidson going
by and you think that doesn't make any
sense who's driving a who's driving a
Harley at 3 o'clock in the morning well
I'm just saying angels will do all kinds
of things to wake you up and it could be
something like I just heard here in the
studio in just above a couple of minutes
ago it's like a really loud pop which I
don't even know where it came from I've
never heard that in here before but
things like that can happen and it may
even like in a good way startle
startling you and you get up you think
well I'm up I'm I might as well stay up
yes that's exactly what God wants you to
do take advantage of that and get up and
get out of bed and go and meet the Lord
in prayer praise the Lord Lord we give
you praise today therefore let us not
sleep as others do praise the Lord I
believe that the Apostle Paul I don't
think you slept very much I think you
did get some sleep but I believe that he
was so caught up in prayer and into the
study of the word and to fulfilling his
apostolic ministry I believe he slept
very little and I believe that this is
an untapped realm in the body of Christ
where we can really find some time here
to get closer to the Lord I know some
would say pastor Steve and I just don't
have time everybody's got time it's just
a matter of priorities if but I would
put the Lord first and I would I would
dismiss something else something that's
that's not going to matter in the whole
scheme of God's eternal plan for your
life
praise the Lord glory to the Lord Jesus
this is a time this is a time when we
must be
we must be watching glory to the Lord we
must be up and in order to do that
you're going to have to alter the way
that you sleep praise God
Heavenly Father I'm praying for your
people that they would consider the
words of the Apostle Paul whom I'm
convinced had a very unusual way of
sleeping and father we even see the Lord
Jesus falling asleep in the back of a
ship they obviously had a little
sleeping area for him but father he was
so tired and he would push so hard and
so long in prayer so father the the the
lifestyles as we see glimpses into their
devotional lives of the Lord Jesus and
these other great men of faith from your
word father help us to take these little
pieces and put them all together as a
beautiful mosaic of sleep and prayer and
let us draw near to you receiving the
grace that we need and the strength that
we need in these last days father we
thank you for your understanding that
these last days are evil so we need to
be alert we give you all the praise in
Jesus name thank you Father amen you
know the enemy with his evil plans
he is really after this next generation
of young people parents those of you
that are parents and you have to raise
your children you really you really need
to get up early and pray for your
children before they go to school
because in the public schools there is
so much indoctrination there is a
doctrine ation of same-sex marriage
there is every type of crazy perverted
teaching that has now being introduced
to the children and even laws are passed
where it has to be taught to the
children now so these are things that
you have to be aware of and you really
need to pray for your children you would
even I would even suggest praying word
you send your children to school at I
think that's extremely extremely
important I know that a parent might say
well you know pastor Steve and I want to
send them where they can get the best
education well what if they get a really
good education but you know though that
that organization takes their soul you
know I was talking with the minister
very well-known minister
and he said he said Stephen he said my
granddaughter got a scholarship at a
major Ivy League university for a
four-year full covered scholarship now
that's worth that's worth a couple of
hundred of thousands of dollars free the
whole thing paid for for four years and
when it was first revealed you know some
years back the whole family was happy
but he said you know she came out of
that she graduated four years later and
she went into that university loved God
on fire for God filled with the spirit
spoke in other tongues loved the Lord
within four years she graduated came out
of that and she hates God curses God
she's a flaming liberal that hates
anything to do with God or Christianity
why because of where she went to school
at hmm I'm just telling you you need to
live for eternity and you really need to
pray about where your children should go
to school and praise the Lord that's
that is when they're under your
authority and under your control when
they're full-grown adults they're out of
the house and on their own then they can
make their own choices but you want to
you want to take them in the right
direction praise God because these are
evil days that we're living in and the
enemy is after the souls of young people
he wants to defile them pervert them he
really wants to get the world ready for
the Antichrist and a one-world
government and a one-world false
religion you really need to be walking
with the Lord because there there will
be millions of Christians that are just
swept into it they'll accept that
they'll believe it they'll even be false
signs and wonders done by the false
prophet so this is not a time to be
asleep this is time to be up and praying
walking with the Lord so that you can't
be tricked or fooled praise God let's
grab our communion today please grab
some unleavened bread some grape juice
thank you Lord Jesus glory to the Lord
God's going to release great prosperity
into your life
that's why you really need to be prayed
up so that you're open and ready to have
these divine connections where because
you're redeeming the time now you're in
the right place at the right time and
right connections provision flowing
proper allocation of the of the
provision everything working the way God
wants it to hallelujah
Heavenly Father we bless the bread the
juice this is now the body of Jesus this
is now his blood we give you praise
father we thank you we thank you for
helping us to make those adjustments
with our sleep thank you Father God and
we thank you that the sleep that we do
have will be very very sleep it'll be
very very deep and very very sweet
we thank you father father we receive
the body of Jesus we receive his body
with great Thanksgiving thank you Father
God Father his body must have gotten
tired at times we know that for example
when he sat down with the woman at the
well and it says he was tired he was
tired he was also thirsty so father we
know that he had a flesh and blood body
just like we do so he can relate to what
it is that we go through so father we
thank you for Grace and for strength
we received the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ in faith right now let's protect
together pray use the Lord for those of
you that would like to participate what
we're going to do on the early morning
prayer challenge is we're going to be
praying at 3:30 3:00 in the morning now
of course I live in an Eastern time zone
you may live somewhere else in the world
but wherever you're at get up at 3:30
3:00 in the morning I would say like
this get up a little bit earlier than
that maybe five minutes earlier and be
at your post be at your place of prayer
at 3:30 3:00 in the morning okay and I
want you to aim for one hour Jesus said
could you not tarry an hour okay we're
gonna we're gonna do this for 21 days if
you do it for 21 days
straight with no misses I would love to
hear from you through email okay and
just email me when it's done and tell me
that you made it I'd like to rejoice
with you and if you have a testimony
that you would like to share or
something that happened which I'm sure
there will be during this during this
experience then I would like for you to
send that to me okay
you might think well Pastor Steven when
do I start you start the very next
morning of whatever it is that you're
hearing this message okay so if you hear
this on Sunday start early Monday
morning if you're hearing this on
Thursday start early Friday morning and
go 21 days by meeting the Lord at 3:30
3:00 in the morning glory to God go 21
days and go endeavored to go for at
least an hour okay some of you you'll
have the strength to go longer
glory to the Lord but this won't put you
in that place where you will begin to
experience first Thessalonians five four
six therefore let us not sleep as others
do okay then that carries you in into
the prayer watch and to the sobriety
that's needed in the last days glory to
God Heavenly Father we thank you for the
blood of Jesus that washes all of our
sins away father we thank you that the
Apostle Paul said in the book of
Philippians that he forgot everything
that was behind all of his sins all of
his failures all of his shortcomings all
of the times perhaps when he should have
prayed but he didn't the times when he
should have draw nearer to you but he
didn't father we just thank you that all
of our sins are behind us we asked it as
we received the body of Jesus and the
blood then you would just wash all of
our sins away clean and now father God
we exercise our faith on that we believe
that you have forgiven us of all of our
sins and we forgive anybody who has
sinned against us we thank you Father
thank you for the blood of Jesus
we'll give you all the glory and the
praise let's receive the blood of Christ
now
praise the Lord glory to the Lord
okay starting tomorrow morning meet the
Lord at 3:30 3:00 in the morning
endeavor to go for an hour because Jesus
said could you not tarry with me one
hour
hallelujah go longer if you'd like and
of course during the daytime if you want
to pray during the daytime that's all
wonderful as well pray at night whatever
makes you happy but endeavor to seek the
Lord in those hours is a very quiet time
is a very peaceful time look for the
help to get up look if you just get up
and get to your spot you've already won
95% of the battle why because most
people never show up but if you just
show up and you just get there you're
your rhythm you're gonna most likely
make it because you've already done the
hardest part get a coffee if you need to
and just sit there with the Lord and
pray pray in the spirit if you're too
tired to pray in English just pray the
whole thing in in tongues Yasha ba ba ba
ba suka Dada Dada yeah just sit there
and pray in tongues the whole time but
just spend time with the Lord
revelation will flow the unveiling that
the end times will flow glory to the
Lord because soon and very soon we will
go to be with the Lord forever and
forever more we want to be ready for
that day want to see as many people
swept into the kingdom as possible while
we still yet have time glory to God okay
so think about where you're gonna be
praying at tomorrow morning get your
place ready get your little if it's a
couch or a seat get it ready put your
pillow there no no you know you don't
want to lay down because if you lay down
you're gonna fall asleep but you want to
be sitting up you want some comfort
because you'll be sitting there for a
while and just get that prepped I'll be
praying it might my special place and
I'll be up praying at least for an hour
so know that you're not the only one
okay but there's others around the world
because we have online church members in
China and South Africa in Nigeria in in
Europe we have online church members in
Australia and all throughout America and
Canada all over the world so look we're
just praying hallelujah drawing near to
Lord because these while they're in the
world would be the worst of times these
for the people of God are the best of
times and we don't want to miss anything
I believe many of you during these 21
days you're going to have visions and
supernatural encounters in the heavenly
realm get ready for that and even expect
the angelic help to get you up it'll be
there if you need it
glory to God do your best and God will
send the angels to help you as well okay
my friends God bless you I look forward
to seeing you next time until then get
up early and pray and be willing to make
those adjustments in your sleep and
trust me you'll find the grace of God as
you do thank you for watching I'll see
you back next time
bye-bye